Journal bearing



vApril 3, 1928.

G. FLINTERMANN JOURNAL BEARING Filed Dec. 24. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1ATTORNEY April 3, 19215.k 1,664,880`

G. FLINTET" if w3 JOURNAL BEARING Filed Dec:V l' .L 2 Sheets-Sheet 2ATTORNEYJ.

Patented Apr. 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES l GERHARD FLINTERMANN, 0F VJEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

JOURNAL BEARING.

Application filed December 24, 1926. Serial No. 156,824.

This invention relates to journal bearings particularly of the heavyduty type used on locomotives, railway cars and the like.

The. journal bearings of locomotives are subjected to enormous loads andthe brasses are severel)1 hammered by the thrust of the pistons. Thispiston thrust is in a direction that tends to displace the journal insubstantially a` horizontal plane. The excessive loads have a tendencyto squeeze out the lubricant film from the space between the bearingsurface and the surface of the journal, resulting in hot boxes, burnedbrasses, etc. The hammering action caused by the`pistons tendsto deforrnthe bearing` surface of the brassesand get it out of shape. Thishammering action also results eventually in a disintegration of thebrasses.

Heretofore it has been considered advisable to resist or oppose theexcessive horizontal thrusts caused bythe pistons. by inaking thebearing quite rigid and by making the brasse's of such length that theycover a journal surface of about 1800. In this way thebearing surfaceextended down a sutilcien't distance at each side of the journal torigidly oppose the tendency of the journal to lmove horizontally.However, this is objectionable for several reasons. For instance. themorel rigid the bearing the greater will be t-he damage done. to thebrasscs in the nature of deformation and disintegration.

Moreover, the relatively long bearing surface produces such a longlubricant film that before the lubricant escapes at the far end of thebearing surface its lubricating properties are nearly destroyed, thusallowing objectionable metal to metal contact. The rigidity of thebearing also increases the tendency for the lubricant# film to besqueezed out during heavy loads. such as overloads. F

vThe main object of this invention is to provide a journal bearingespecially designed for use on locomotives, which is capable of handlingthehcavy normal loads, overloads and piston thrusts Without destroyingthe proper lubricating action and without materially shortening the lifeof the bearing.

Another object is to provide a journal bearing whose bearing"'elementproper;n

though rigid in itself, is permitted slight movement to facilitate theformation and maintenance of a wedge-shaped lubricant film underth'ebearingsurfacc, the instrumentalities for effecting this being verycompact and especially designed to fit Withinv the small confines ot'the usual locomotive journal box shell.

A further object is lo provide a journal bearing of greater efficiencyand longer life than those now in use and which is simple, compact andrelatively inexpensiveto manufacture.

The invention is illustrated-in the accom` panyingdrawings, in whichFig. l is a verti xal transverse section through a locomotive journalbearing embodying the invention; Y

Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive illustrate four modilications of the invention,Figs. 2, 3 and 4 being partial transverse sections of journal bearings,and Fig. 5 being a complete transverse section of a journal bearing; and

Fig. G is a partial longitudinal section of a journal bearingillustrating a desirable addition when any of the journal bearings shownin the other figures is used on a railivay car.

Referring first to Fig. l the axle journal is represented at 1. It isenclosed by the journal box shell 2 which slides vertically1 in thecustomary box slides not shoivn in the drawing.

The bearing member comprises a bearing element proper or main portion 3,and yieldingr legs 4. which extend upwardly from poinlsin the vicinityof the ends ofthe main portion 3.

'lhe inner surface of the portion 3 is made concave to fit the journalsurface and may, if desired. be lined with a suitable bearing metalrepresented at 5; In the form shown in Fig. l the legs 4 are integralwith the portion 3.

The bearing member is so constructed andA designed that for thecontemplated loads the main portion 8 will be rigid throughout itslength while the legs Ll will yield under the action of certain forcesas hereinafter described.

The upper ends of the legs 4 are prop-' Y ments of the journal, it ispreferable to pivot the frame l5 as shown at 19 and to yieldmemberpermits of a slight sidewise and diagonally-upward movementJ of thebearing member. A. stop 1l at each` side of the bearing member abutsagainst the adjacent wall of the journal box shell after a predeterminedslight initial movement of the bearing member. That portion 'l2 of thewall of the journal box shell adjacent to the stop 11 is designed totiert slightly after the stop 1l abuts against it, if the forces aresuch as to cause this result. After a certain amount of flexing of theWall of the journal box shell, a second stop 13 comes in contact withthe same wall of the journal box shell, and as the Wall is somewhatthicker at this point the movement of the bearing member will be opposedto a correspondingly greater degrec.

In Fig. l the cxtreme ends of the bearingF "surface are beveled or cutaway as shown at 14. This is for the purpose of providing a clearentrance for the lubricant and also to. lessen the length ot the actualbearing` surface. In Fig. l and the other figures to be here inafterdescribed the bearing' member is preferably made of steel While thelining is preferably bronze, brass, Babbitt metal or the like. Ifdesired the bearing surface may be of the same material as the body ofthe bearing member in which event the lining Would be omitted. In thedrawing the liningr is dovetailed into the bearing member. but ifdesired it can be made thicker an-.l forced into placeuinder pressurewithout the use of dovetails in accordance with the present practiceotfastening the brasses in the bearing members of locomotive journalbearings. This practice, however, requires the use of a thicker brass orlining. This would reduce the width of the bearing;` eloment and destroysomo of its rigidity unless the bearing element is made correspondinglythicker. Therefore, this procedure should only be resorted to wherethere is suflicient room in the journal box shell to make the bearing;velement thick enough to preserve its rigidity. i

Oil is the preferred form of lubricant, but inasmuch as the presentpractice in this country is to employ solid lubricant, the journal boxshell has been represented in the drawing` as having a lubricatingrcellar or' the solid lubricant type. This type of lubricating meanscomprises a frame 1.5 designed to receive a grease cake i6 which ispressed against the journal by means of spring 17. A perforated plaie 18is interposed between the grease' cake and the journal surface. Theseparts. as so far de scribed, may be of standard construction.

However, as the bearing of this application is designed to permitslightlateral move- Leccese ingly hold the frame in its central positionby means of coil springs QU and 2l. rthe frame l5 may be convenientlypivoted to the removable bottom 22 of the journal hor shell and thesprings Q0 and 2l may react at their lower ends against this removablebot tom.

The journal box shell provided with the usual lubricantreservoirs orpockets 23 and 24. from which lubricant is i'ed to thc slides throughducts and 2G respectively.

Before describing the operation oi' the bearing it should be borne inmind that the movement of the bciirincr mcn'ibcr to produce theWedge-shaped lilm of oil, hereinafter dc scribed7 and the movements oithe bcarinc member caused by. the piston thrusts are cxl'remely small.For this reason thc gap hc- ,tween the stop 1l and the correspondingwall 12 of the journal box shell is extremely small, so small in factthat in practice these portions would seem to be in actual contact. Thegap between the stop 13 and the wall ot' the journal box shell isslightly larger, but even this gap will be extremely small.

In operation the lubricant forced under the bearingy surface by therotation of the journal `will have a tendency to form itself' into awedge-shaped film. One or both of th legs 4 yield slightly so as topermit the main portion 3 of the bearing to shift bodily a` small amountto facilitato the fin'mation and maintenance of this wedge-shaped lihnof oil. The wide end of the wedge-shaped film will be toward theentrance end of the bearingr while the thin end of thc wedge shaped filmwill be toward the exit end of the bearing surface. Oi course. thedirection of the oil Wedge will depend upon the direction of rotationot' the journal. The narrow end ol the 'Wedge will always point in thcdirection in which the journal rotates. Excessive loads. such asoverloads, will not have :i tendency to squeeze out the oil film becausethe legis l will yield under such circumstances to a greater extent andmaintain thc oil wedge. In some cases the forces Ywhich cause the legsel to yield will be snihcient to brin;7 one ot the stops l1 intooperativegengragement with the corresponding wall 1250i the journal boxshell, Displacement or yielding` ot' the bearing will then bc opposed toa correspondingly greater degree because after this action takes placeany further movement of the bearing.r mcmber'will have lo also dcficclthe wall of thc journal box shell. Displarcment ot thc bearingr memberis opposed lo a still greater degree when one of the stops l. comes incontact with the Wall of the journal box shell. It will, therefore, beseen that the action is a progressive one. First, the legs 4 yieldinglyoppose displacement of the bear ing member, then this opposition isincreased when the yieldingr portion 12 of the journal box shell comesinto play, and the opposing action still further ivlrlilzlwll when :ithicker part tlf the. will nl thv jlllllilll hlm' silfrll clinics intohilly after the stllp lil utilitay against this. part' of they mil. Thi`prUgl-lf sive fiction full hw. lull-rift! t-flfn tlirl'htfl' hypluvitlinf; lllum incurs 'rely ilvlllg hlm it so desired.

n 0111@ www it mig-ht lw tlwirrlllh tel llzlw: the Stop l in CUL-ll mlm'lfivllt `wth thc wall ol' the jmll'llnl htm shvil. fwlz lumi lilt.beginning. Il! thi` rmt thtA l Il. Whittx permitting llluftllllilt nlthll hunting; 'lllllltlfln 3, nwe-tl not. plllj.' un ilnpllrtllllt. pmtill )mt-hh illgly oppoxllll slit-ll lllmtlllolltl ller-(lush the Thixings 'l will )'iehl ghtly tl: permit wf ll lllilllltl; lateralSlliftlnglr of the llfll'illnl lllollllwl' ill respons@ to il li/fullthrllf-t in vtllvlI thwtiwi. It' he thl'lllt is @grml vlllaligh tll.itngl l! lfbllts n jllillbl tilt will nl' th@ hm llvll. This Wall xviiithfll Fii} "htl \v tlm lllll thv All position tu tlisl'ihltrclllcn, nllhly lllillill l lltlll llll' will he illfrtwllsetl. lilwl lill wh llils against ille wllll if tht llllx f-'htll thty position to li hit:ilwntnl' jl'll-lllilw thvy ring;r melnhul' has Itzchtll' thrllm lzll' thepinoli thine@1 zntwlmi. l ,l mst desirable :lrnlllgvnlnt i.-- tt halvestop 1l in actual lfmltzltt: xlilh he willi the box .f-.hf-ll l'tllntht'x stllrt, :is d' crlhtld whore. The plstnil thrust, will t'hlll hf@yivltlugly Opposed hy the LUX shell wzlll t'l-llli the start and :lilyknocking whit-h lllight. result. fron'l the. Stop 11 @filming illllllllzut with the wall will thereby he eliminated.

It, will be Jun tllrlt tht lll-:lling l-llrhwt. loos not have to hv :lvllong :ls llltm lll slr-tl tw. lllt-tllllotircs at the prow-llt, timellttfllll,-il the. hearing i5 not llt-sigllutl tu rightly uppfm lll-opistfln thlll ty hut l0 villaliilgly bwl-l.' thalll, This sllul'tlls thelength tlt` the lil tillll mtl inslll'eg` that its lllllliclnillfmrprrfpll'lt ,uw not tlstloyefl. The yielding` lt ti l lflxflrillgylllemlwr not nllly ptrlllit` the l'tzlll): l'tlllllzlthm of tin-nilwtdge hut'. .it inffllrcs tllllt tlllr ing orolloafls. bthovl. etc. thelil wml-jv mill nflt he destroytll,

The yivldillg allglsol'ptioll nl thtv phtml thrusts and any otherShowing i-Jlts. ctc. tl^lltl to eliminato vibration @t thv juill-:lul`lll il ;l. oftvll ('ttlll ill beinlinge ns htl'vtutflilti wn-St'ructetl. Tllfy llalllllicling :lcitsll lvt'tlrtfl to above asolllll'lillg: lll thr l-lv vllt thly hlmlllotive journal hearings isel'llllill:ltl tl :intl tht` sllllpo of the bearinlr lu-falce if:lll'ff, t-r\t'll.

In Fig. 2 the heul-imiA lntlllwll :3E i pro rillctl with yielding' legs.Il@ the lllllr`trllul loll :lull 'function of' which zlrv. ill gcllvrnltht sallle as in Fig. 1. Ill thisy figure als well :is ill Figs. 3 and 4it. will he ulllhlsmlill tllllt tht" parts shown are duplicated at theright. of

init-grml lri .mug v nivm'e und th@ yioiding :mimi n? iw ir'g i lniiivd'by stop?, 33* un In@ housing In iliiri forni n tin) 'winning sin@ animisprings 4() may iw muiinymi if duim-d, mai-'ii legs 4 'but mism in' Umssprings. in Vig. Q The bearing uivinilcr is mi .miiniiy :iulrfiicated ntHw imwr iuxii' if iii@ inurnzii.` )in the lnwer half (if thu lwui'inp;mimi. nuM of iii@ 10mi in this t'ypf nf hearing it muy im desirable tofill five imwr sinh: 'q :mil El',

with trips 42 nf brass or ntiifr rfgiulifuiy soft metal which iiirvn'imw nr :nifl .0 the yipiding opposition iurnisflmi in' iw yieldinglegs, In other winlq` inv irzrsf: btrip make the iwurin" nimniwr iev-Vividing,

Fig. 6 i. n pdria] mngiruflinni Si that typ@ of' journal u.-i..aiiy mulil railway cars. Th1: jfnnnzii imy u mira-unifevfentia groove iviiivhlfnwrf npr iiinf; shoulder@ 471 between vvhifh '.nirns npc-raies. in ihnumai (nnStxlzi-ion ung; longitudinal movement or viuuiiinn of [fueinnrnzii causes the siriiuidars 4i in fv'urzn (ha ncuring surfacebecnus@ 0f iisizhlwnwn nr fiwing of fine matcriai m" thv, "izrzi,-s--".Vi'rhen any of the improve- 1 iwnrimrs di#KM closed above i@ uswi on nriliwny fur it iw desirabie (n innert iitu'cmi v'ivn Siumhlrr vii andthe vnd of iin; homing ningr F :i #Epuratc piece of homing nwtu 4*; insuch :i wry that a clearance 4? init. when tin jour4 nal viirraies orniows hingiiminniiy rin; metal of the sepame piove 4;)- t'mvs, inni tin;clearanrc 43 without [ispimying tinl inicial 0f the main iiningfr :miiivsroying Uw simu@ of im bearing surfm-e. @ne of iin main objcct" indevising; tim iumiingf@ iurffin iii, dosed, naniniy preventivi: nffiiim-tiun nf Hin bearing; miriam?, is iwrvfm'c iii uriwr carrivd ont bythis zniilxiii inspmvenimn winne, the bearings :m2 used mi riiuuy van#ur in other reiaionf; wlwr Link marmi of iim bhzu'af'tw shown in '21 45,

In tim 'forogjningf fierwrirstinn milj; rvfnzin forces which tend inruns@ Uw immuni incur bei to be dispiziifwl huw wenn wifi-:Hivnmntinncd. Yarimif: mim' i'nr-:i' xviii no doubt iw vncounmml imi,prnrlirnliy :ill n? tiwln wili im yiuidingiy ,iiisorlwl and iiilmied by(he nnuusy lurvin disiflnfmi. ifm' instunw worziin 'mcvs: urn iwi up inliao hearing during braking und thaw, nrcy yiviib ingiy absorbed unddissipated in thv inn proved bearings without breaking up the ubrimntwedge or injuring the nearing surface.

As Qtnted abovfi all of movements of the 'nearinfr member which lain-spiace during the yielding absorption of the shocks, thrusts, etc., andduring the formation and mai-n ii Wange are: vx-

nicroscnpii. i @emu-bia tu inzikc ura. box :invii nr housingniicwinropif, iwxme may be main itin-#tion nir ywiding legs nui. niwufiin sind :i fxieidingfiy mounmi bmirinf; member immuni in iin?,numbing; and imvixrr4 :i bmniun surfmzn iting; n, portion 0i' thejournzi unina/'an @im Sides 01" iie bww ingr member being miuywi i@ ibutthe zifijzb @Cnt wrfiizs of the iinuUA snili 11H5 nf ihi, immingg being{iffxiiui tn yiririing'iy nppnzfr" nmvsxnnn nf (in: nearing mombvr.

:piumini Marini; wingni-ing a 'inuru. imusnif, :i im; (r nnflnbnrinterposta@ .vfwn f journui i tint; housing und wmpr. ing :i righ]Lniiin pminn having :1y "nearing eur'afff itim: :i vlmrinn nf tim sururewf rnv. jfvurnu'i Sinai :i in; if`V nml" Miri; unil :if ti riff Inuinportion :uinptmi in perin giri iiiwphlcm'nent of Suid riiii mainpfu'iinu. mui si? lvusi me @lement nt each side nf the iufm-ing inemimr:uiupfed tu yieidiugfjy oppose nmwmvnx of (im lwnringgj member,

4. A jnurriai bearing m :wrm-lauro with' :'lnixn 3 in Whiffi'i Saidelemon, at each endif of the bearing member Qmnpriscu :i waii of thehousing, said vuil being made Hexibie ,fnr the purpose describv.

5, A "0m-nai bearing wunprising :i joun naij a housng` u yieiingymounted bearing membffr lucsiei in Sie hit-1, and having a bearin surfy"lering a portion of the surface o the jomrrnl, the walls of the housingat the slides` of the bearing member being flexible und the bearingmember having portions at euch side adapted to come into contact withthe correspondin housing wall successively for the purpose escribed.

6. A journal bearing comprising a journal, a. housing, a bearing memberinterposed between the journal and the housing and Qmprising a rigidmain portion having a bearing surface fitting a portion of the surfaceof the 'ournal and a yielding supportleg near eacli end of the rigidmain portion adapted to permit slight displacement of said rigid mainportion, a portion at each side of the bearing member being adapted .toabut against the corresponding wall of the housing after a predeterminedslight movement of the bearing member.

In testimol? whereof I ax m signature. GE HARD FLINTE MANN.

